Honey Covered Birdcage
by Lil' Ms. I-Like-Girls
Summary: Bella had always been bland, blah, nothing special. But a looming presence is determined to change that and set Bella on a path that is anything but ordinary. What's an average girl to do when everything is slowly becoming extraordinary, especially pixies
1. Hook

Okay, so I shouldn't actually be distracted by another story when I'm in the middle of one. But have you tried fighting a muse? It gets bloody and messy and really, it's just painful to watch and it leaves you asking those birds flying around your head, "Hey! You get the number on that bulldozer?" So yeah, I don't recommend refusing the muse. Ever.

That being said this is my first Twific so don't go crazy if 'you've already seen this plot before' because one: I have no idea which plot you're talking about and two: I'm going to _**attempt**_ to do things differently. We'll see how that works out. All mistakes are my own but I am in the look out for a beta. So if anyone is interested message me and we'll talk. ;) Enjoy!

Love,

Lil' Miss

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It was a well known fact that Bella Swan was as graceful as she was blonde; and being that she was a natural brunette and refused to touch hair dye, much to her mother's persuasions on "trying something new", people frowned on Bella's sarcasm as her being disrespectful and arrogant. Which made Bella laugh when she heard this and gave her a headache at the same time. People were so confusing. It was just a joke; albeit the truth. And to prove this unfortunate fact Bella tripped over seemingly nothing and almost face planted in front of her best friend, Angela Webber, before she could make it completely out of her truck. _Stupid gravity._

"Are you okay Bells?" Angela asked sweetly as she offered a hand to Bella. Bella blushed but took it gratefully, glad she wouldn't have to pick herself up by putting her hand into the large mud puddle that her right knee had so wonderfully fallen into. _Of course that had to happen. _Bella cursed when she put weight on her leg but told herself to shake it off. She was used to her two left feet kicking her in the ass on a daily basis.

"Ouch. That looked like it hurt. Maybe we should have Kit take a look at it." Bella looked down to where Angela was pointing and sighed in exasperation. Her dark jeans (her favorite pair!) were torn, revealing a large blossoming red spot and frayed skin. Bella winced at the sight but that was it. It would start to burn in a few minutes, she was sure.

"Seriously? The bell hasn't even rung yet and I have _this_ to start my Monday? Oh this is just—peachy." Angela giggled much to Bella's annoyance but wrapped her arm around the bleeding brunette's shoulders and smiled.

"That's what you get for being you, sweetcheeks. Now come on. Last time you saw Kit she said she would have cookies ready for us."

"But we saw her on Friday though and when did she say she'd have cookies?" Bella asked confused.

"While you were unconscious and sporting that attractive nose bleed silly," Angela answered with a grin. Bella groaned in embarrassment at the memory, however blurry it was. Last Friday was not a happy day. The tall brunette shushed her friend and giggled when Bella groaned louder. "By the way," She began, squinting as she observed the long gash over Bella's brow; starting from above her right eyebrow, down her brow bone and darting swiftly to her temple. Angela winced slightly at the memories that that wound always brought forth in her…so much blood. Guilt seeped uncomfortably in her gut and she shook her head. "It looks like that cut over your eye is finally healing. Have you been putting on the moisturizer I gave you?" Angela asked.

"Yes, mom." Bella grumbled, but couldn't wipe the small smile from her face at her friend's caring nature.

"Well good. It looks loads better," Angela said. "I hardly noticed it."

"You mean before or after you pointed it out?" Bella said, raising an eyebrow in question.

"Can't I just say your face looks great and not have you slinging out accusations?" Angela huffed and waving her hands out emphatically.

"Nope. You're a horrible actress." Bella lied with a grin. Angela was actually exceptional when it came to lying to your face (i.e. telling Jessica that her ass totally doesn't look bloated in those jeans) but with Bella, Angela's charms and whatnot had no effect. Not that she would lie to her but it was simply an unexpected skill that the taller brunette possessed. It was the art of telling Lauren "You don't suck" to her face with a straight face and not barfing a little in your mouth.

"Lies my dear Bella. You speak only lies and you know it." Her friend emphasized with a few gentle taps on her nose. Bella scrunched her face up at the annoying gesture and stuck her tongue out at her. Angela rolled her eyes and grasped Bella's hand, pulling her along with a tug.

"Now hurry up. Kit said she would make chocolate chip."

"Okay fine but ow – Ang - okay hello bleeding! Are cookies really more important than your best friend's well being?" Bella pouted, stumbling a little as she hobbled around on one leg, mindful of the shooting pain she'd feel whenever she put weight on the other. Stupid knee.

"Oh don't be a baby. You know I love you and your incredible ability to trip over things that aren't there." Her friend cooed as she dragged (if not gently) a pouting Bella to the Nurse's Station and knocked on the countertop when no one seemed to be paying the bleeding student the proper attention. I mean, sure Bella was somewhat of a regular in the Nurse's office, but even then you'd think that the sight of oozing red fluids would invoke some kind of concern.

"Um hello?" Angela looked around the barren office, standing on her tippy toes to hopefully get a better vantage point to see. Where was everyone?

"The service here sucks." Angela grumbled with a frown. Bella nodded and winced when she felt a sudden spiking pain in her knee, making her whole leg pulse. Angela glanced at Bella worriedly and began knocking more urgently on the counter. Whether it was a cracked open skull, scuffed knee or a damn splinter, _someone_ was going to see her best friend. Say hello to Mama Bear, bitches.

"Hello! Is anybody even here? Do you even care that someone is probably bleeding to death and—"

"May I help you?" A beautiful voice said. Both girls' heads whipped around behind them and gasped at the sight before them. There stood probably the most gorgeous woman either girl had ever seen. Her heart shaped face was framed beautifully in caramel curls that reached to the middle of her shoulder blades. She was ghostly pale but Bella could barely make out the hints of a slight pink hue to her cheeks. _How did I even catch that? She's like a sheet._ The woman's warm golden eyes were what Bella found the hardest to look away from. They sparkled even in the poorly lit florescent lighting and Bella felt her insides churn pleasantly at the sight despite herself.

"Oh my. You're bleeding dear." The beautiful woman's face scrunched up in obvious concern and Bella thought that she didn't deserve to look anything but happy and content.

"Huh?" Was Bella's unintelligible response.

"Your knee, sweetheart. How did this happen? It seems like an awful lot of blood." The woman bit her lip but her frown did not waver. Angela shook her head in a vain attempt to clear the gorgeous sight of the woman from muddling her brain. It didn't work. Wait …nope still there.

"My friend here fell out of her truck this morning and scraped her knee pretty bad." Angela looked down at Bella's knee again and her eyes widened, taking in the nearly soaked front of her jeans, the blood pooling down and trailing down her shoe lace. "And she won't stop bleeding. I thought only head wounds were supposed to gush like that. Or when you cut yourself shaving or something." Angela mumbled the last part to herself but Bella heard it and rolled her eyes.

"Hmm, I'm not sure. Perhaps we should have a closer look and get you all cleaned up." Both girls regarded the woman oddly. Bella finally noticed the ID badge hanging around the unfamiliar woman's neck, classifying her as part of the staff.

"Where's Nurse Phillips? And the rest of the Nursing staff for that matter?" Angela asked, looking around. The woman smiled kindly, stealing Bella's breathe away.

"I'm not sure about Nurse Phillips, but I do know that the rest of the staff members are in a meeting. It's just me till then, I'm afraid. But I promise to be gentle." The woman smiled. Bella almost snorted at the innocent but unintentional suggestion, but a strangled gasp ripped from her before she try and cover it up. She barely shifted her leg but the slicing feeling was unmistakable. _What the fuck?_

"Oh you poor thing. Why don't we get you cleaned up before that gets infected?" The woman suggested. Bella held back a whimper at the thought of moving her leg but the beautiful woman saved her from thinking about it for too long and made her way towards her. Bella's heart began to race for some unknown reason.

"Lean on me dear." The woman said gently. Bella did and unconsciously leaned her weight on her bad leg to move closer. The girl whimpered and the woman almost looked pained at the sound.

"Don't stand on it sweetheart. Just lean your whole body against mine, don't move your feet." Bella hesitated but complied and leaned more of her weight against the women.

"That's it. Okay I'm going to wrap my arm around your waist. Is that okay?" The woman asked gently. Bella nodded. The woman wrapped her pale arm around Bella's back and held her hip lightly. Bella willed her heart rate to slow down but it rudely ignored her.

"Let's try walking now, but don't put any weight on that leg and let me support that side. Alright?" The woman instructed.

Another nod.

"Alright. Here we go." Bella did as she was told and leaned her weight on the woman as she helped her along into the room. It didn't even feel like she was walking with her and felt more like she was being carried.

"There we are. How was that?" Bella smiled a little as the woman settled her into a seat and quickly moved away to the other side of the room. _She probably needs to get a giant band-aid from the cabinets for the hole in my knee, _Bella thought.

"Much better than I would have been able to do on my own. Thank you." The woman beamed and busied herself with a few drawers and began pulling the necessary things out.

"Of course darling. That's what I'm here for." She replied gently, a soft smile gracing her lips. Normally Bella would have felt weirded out by all the pet names from a perfect stranger but she found it oddly comforting and felt a warm feeling fill her belly.

"Are you the new nurse?" Angela asked curiously from her spot against the wall as she observed the beautiful stranger gracefully open drawers; not a single movement wasted or fumbled.

"Yes I am. Oh how rude of me, it seems I've lost my manners," The woman stretched out a pale hand to Angela. "I'm Esme Cullen." Bella giggled softly at the dumbstruck look on her friend's face. Angela shook her head slightly to clear it and took the hand. She frowned at the temperature. _It's like shaking hands with an ice sculpture._

Angela's eyes nearly bugged out of her head.

"Wait...Cullen? As in Dr. Cullen?"

"Oh you must be referring to my husband. Yes, that Cullen." The woman giggled. Bella couldn't help but smile at the sound.

Angela blushed.

"Have you met my husband?" She asked.

"Um no I haven't, but I'm pretty sure Bella here has by now." Angela gestured to the girl in question and Bella turned red. Esme smiled at the girl.

"Is that so?" Esme raised an amused eyebrow and regarded Bella with a glint in her eye.

"I-I…well I wouldn't…I mean—" Bella sputtered. Esme laughed, finding the girl absolutely adorable beyond words.

"Its fine, sweetheart. I'm sure you're plenty safe to not end up at my husband's office regularly." She quirked an eyebrow at the teen and Bella blushed. _I wouldn't be so sure of that lady._

"So let's see what we have here. My my, child. Were you by any chance hugging a meat grinder this morning?" The woman teased. Bella blushed.

"It looks that bad, huh?" The woman smiled and shook her head 'no' while Angela examined the wound next to her, nodding mutely. Bella sighed.

"Great. This wouldn't by any chance get me out of gym would it?" Bella asked hopefully.

"Well, I would hope so. A limping student in a gymnasium is not a very productive use of your time, hmm?" Bella shook her head sheepishly.

"Not to worry. I'll be sure to write a note for your teachers so you won't have to participate." Bella let out a sigh of relief. The woman busied herself with cleaning the angry looking wound, her movements gentle and loving while her face showed a look of concentration and …strain?

"Are you alright?" Bella asked. The woman blinked.

"Yes, why do you ask?"

"Um er…you just look really tense…"Bella trailed off, not really sure where she was going with her assessment. Honey colored eyes looked at her for a moment before snapping out of it and smiling warmly.

"Yes, I'm fine. No need to worry yourself dear. But thank you for your concern." Bella gave her a hesitant smile.

"Alright. All done." She said as she stood and began cleaning everything up. Angela bent over and looked at the strip of gauze that surprisingly hadn't bled through yet. _She must have bound it pretty tight then. _

"How ya feelin' buttercup?" Angela asked in a horrible masculine southern accent, slapping her thigh. Bella giggled none the less.

"Fine, I guess. Sore still but hey – no gym." Bella perks up at the thought and made to stand before a cold hand rested on her good knee to stop her.

"Wait for a moment. I found the cause of your massive bleeding."

"The cause?" Bella asked.

"Yes. This," Esme holds up a jagged black hook between her index and thumb finger. "Was lodged into your knee. You must have fallen on it during your spell." Esme surmised as she examined the object in her fingers, turning it around, watching as the light caught it at different angles. Bella went pale.

"That – that was inside – was in my," The girl's blood went cold and she couldn't feel her friend's tight grip in her hand or her urgent calls of her name.

"Bella? Bella!"

"Wha-" Angela's worried face slowly came into focus and Bella forced herself to blink.

"You okay?" Her friend asked softly, trying to keep her voice low so the other woman wouldn't hear.

"I – I don't know. Is that really – what I think it is?" Bella glanced quickly at the black claw in the woman's hand. Angela shook her head.

"I'm not sure, but we shouldn't think about that now. I thought we were going to forget about it." Bella sighed.

"I know but can you honestly look at my knee and look at that – thing, " The woman flinched but neither girl noticed. "and refute what's in her hands. It's a warning." Bella hissed lowly.

"Maybe we shouldn't talk about this here. We're already in the middle of 1st period. Let's just meet up before lunch and we can talk about it then okay. It's probably nothing." Bella didn't look so convinced but nodded anyway. Her friend was right. This was not the place or in the right company to have this conversation.

"Is everything alright, girls?" Esme asked softly. Both girls nodded. The woman frowned but said nothing, watching as Angela grabbed both hers and Bella's bags.

"Well I hope you feel better dear." Bella smiled weakly at her but refused to look at her hand. _It's not there. It's not there. If I pretend that it's not there then one day I just might believe it._

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	2. Lie

Alright my pretties. I bare another update! YAY! Woo, that was quick too. But don't expect it to happen too often. Hopefully _some_ of your burning questions will be answered soon (not in this chapter though. Sorry!), I likes me some suspense. X)

Enjoy!

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Bella was in a daze through most of her morning classes. Angela didn't have another class with her until after lunch and by then they would have already talked about …'the issue'. _It was too weird_, Bella thought. All she did was misstep and the very thing she was trying to forget had ever happened gets imbedded into her skin? Bella shook her head. _Don't think about it. It didn't happen. __**Nothing**__ happened._

_But it did happen. I saw – and Angela tried to – you can't wish away a memory like that. It's impossible. Right?_

_No._

Bella shook her head forcefully.

_Yes you can, if you try hard enough._

"Bells."

_No. It didn't happen. End of fucking story. Stop thinking about it. For both your and Angela's sakes._

"Bella?"

_You're not the only one that this is affecting; Angela is just as much an unwilling part of this as you are. Well now she is._

_NO! Its not possible. All of this is fucking insane! Drop it. Move on. Forget._

_It was just a coincidence that I fell and landed on – it. Only a coincidence._

_Stop thinking…_

_It could have happened to anybody._

_But it happened to me. Why does this shit seem to always happen to me?_

_God now I sound conceited like Jessica._

_Stop thinking about it. None of it happened._

"Okay B, you're scaring me."

_Just because you fell on a razor sharp object this morning that caused you to bleed profusely from a fall that should have only given you a small, barely-there scrape, it doesn't mean anything._

_But it does._

_No!_

_It's a sign._

_It means shit to me._

"Bells if you don't snap out of it, I'm going to drag you out of your own head by smacking you with my _very_ thick, very _heavy_ Trig textbook."

A beat.

"Hey!" Bella shrieked. Angela shrugged briefly and laid her aforementioned textbook on the table in front of the girl.

"I warned you so there's no complaining," Angela glanced at the obviously distressed girl, her eyes softening considerably when she took in her tired eyes and her heavy shoulders. "What was that all about?" She asked gently. Bella rubbed her sore cheek and closed her eyes, and then snapped them open, not liking the jumbled thoughts and images presented before her when she did.

"Just…thinking."Bella said, looking down guiltily for so many reasons that were refusing to leave her alone. Angela sighed.

"Come on. We can go to Mr. McDonald's room. He usually has prep before lunch so the classroom should be empty_." _Bella nodded and grabbed her stuff and followed her friend. Fortunately, Angela TA-ed for Mr. McDonald last semester and unsurprisingly, had the poor man wrapped around her finger. He sometimes let them eat lunch in his room, even though students weren't allowed to have food inside the side buildings. It came in handy when Jessica and Lauren were being particularly insufferable and Bella was straining herself from reaching across the table and throttling them both like chickens. So space was necessary.

_Necessary and safe, _Bella thought.

"So you gonna tell me what happened?" Angela asked once the two had gotten situated and had made sure that no one was going to come into the room. Bella sighed tiredly and ran a hand through her hair.

"It wasn't a coincidence, Ang." Bella said, closing her eyes and opening them slowly. There was a pause.

"What wasn't?" Angela asked quietly.

_You know what._

"You know what."

Angela groaned.

"We don't know that Bella. We don't know anything right now. You fell. Last time I checked that's not really breaking news…no offense." Bella rolled her eyes but didn't comment. Bella was a walking –well a disaster period, she knew that. Walking wasn't even safe for her, let alone any of those unlucky enough to be around her when it all went to hell in a stumble and fumble of arms and legs colliding with whatever was near. A wall. Her English teacher. No one knew until it was too late. God help her if she gets pulled over and gets ordered to walk in a straight line.

"Yeah but I don't usually wind up with foreign objects slicing my leg from the _inside_ either!" Bella yelled in frustration. This whole thing was praying heavily on her emotions. She couldn't tell if she wanted to scream, cry, or run –limp – away as fast she could from whatever was taunting them.

"I thought that we were going to forget about it. Like it never happened, remember? What happened this morning was just a fluke Bella. Nothing more." Her friend reasoned in vain. Bella stared at her.

"Are you really going to stand there and tell me that this all doesn't _mean something_?" Bella looked at her friend incredulously as she folded her arms across her chest and gripped her small biceps.

"Why though? Why does it have to mean _anything_ to us?" Angela asked desperately.

"Because it fucking won't leave us alone, Angela!" Bella cried. A heavy silence fell over the room, both girls near tears, pleading for answers in each other's eyes and finding none. They sat in silence for almost ten minutes before one of them spoke.

"What are we going to do?" Angela whispered brokenly. She had given up trying to fight it. This was all too real to ignore, no matter how hard she wanted to say otherwise; she could feel it in her bones, in her gut and the cold feeling in her stomach only added to her sudden nausea.

"I don't know."

"What am I going to tell my sister, Bella? I can't—I can't do this to her. We have no one else! After mom died I—this would destroy her." Angela breathed raggedly, her face scrunching up in anguish, tears falling like torrents down her pretty face.

Bella stayed silent, lost in her thoughts.

"Bella? Bella, what are we going to do?" Bella felt her shoulders being shaken roughly and looked up at her friend's broken face.

"Run." She breathed.

"What?" Angela retracted her hands like she had been burned.

Bella sighed tiredly and shook her head.

"We run." Bella stated simply, brown eyes focused solely on her friends puffy wet ones.

"My sister—"

"Will still be here. She's not the one in danger Ang. I don't want to leave Charlie either but what other option is there?" Angela thought about that for a few minutes and found none.

"But—"

"Do you trust me?" Bella asked seriously, brown eyes unyielding.

"You know I do, but—"

"Do you have a better idea?" Bella asked monotone. Angela bowed her head and reluctantly shook it.

"We'll figure everything out later, okay?" Bella tried to catch her friend's eye but Angela was lost behind a curtain of hair.

"I love you Angie." Bella whispered against her forehead, kissing it and limping slightly out of the room. Angela didn't follow and Bella didn't expect her too. _She needs space from me right now, but she'll understand that it's either run or die. I'd choose life to be honest. Horrible coordination and all._

"Who'd wait patiently for death to come when you know you're not ready?" Bella said softly to nobody as she shuffled down the quiet hallway to wait in her next class, opting to forego lunch all together. All the while unaware of honey eyes watching the brunette's every move from the other end of the hall.

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	3. And Sink Her

**So I'm kinda if-y about this chapter but I really wanted to post something. ****I'm not one for angst so this was stepping out of my comfort zone, but either way I hope you like it and please tell me your thoughts. Good? Bad? None of the above? Don't really care? **

**Just tell me what you think.**

**In other news: Fanfiction has been acting like an annoying little brother, not letting you get any work done. I kept getting an error message every time I went to update. Thankfully I had some help from JadenRain and she told me what to do. Thank you girl!**

**Enjoy!**

**Lil' Miss**

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Bella walked into the classroom wordlessly, her eyes holding a look of complete exhaustion than what was normal for the girl in the middle of the day. Somehow over the course of walking away from Angela to give her much needed space and walking to her next class, Bella had suddenly felt sick to her stomach and her skull had begun pulsing sporadically, she wasn't in the mood for any human interaction right now. The thought of actually communicating verbally with another human being made the brunette grimace and the pain in her head only increased once she scrunched her face up. It goes without saying that today _really_ sucked**. **She was already planning something in her head to say to Charlie; maybe get him to order a pizza for dinner instead of her having to prepare a meal so she could take a nap once she got figured she could write a note and put it on the pack of beer in the fridge. That way she wouldn't have to wake up and explain herself only to drag herself back to bed.

Ignoring the teacher when he called her name, Bella slumped in her seat and sighed tiredly, carefully laying her throbbing head on her folded arms. She felt like crap. There was no sugar coating it. She wasn't heartless; she knew what leaving would do to Charlie and Ang's sister. She didn't even like her own idea. She hated it actually, but what choice did they have? They were on their own. No one else knew of their situation and honestly…who would believe them? She didn't even want to believe it.

Bella felt the urge to run her fingers through her hair in irritation but didn't want to provoke her migraine further. Shifting her arms slightly without moving her head much, Bella peered up at the clock on the wall. There was only a few minutes left before the bell would ring to signal the end of lunch. She wondered briefly if Angela would actually show up to their shared classes today or would she instead avoid her like the plague. It was agony feeling like she was losing her best friend, that they weren't the united duo that they were every time they walked the halls together, elbows locked and laughing at something the other had said. She missed her and Bella couldn't help but feel like maybe this would tear them both down the middle so badly that there would be no chance of ever putting them back together exactly the way they were before. When was that again? It felt like so long ago. It seemed only yesterday that they were discussing Jessica's disturbing new obsession with Justin Beiber as they both did their homework and ate Doritos on Angela's bed spread. It feels like only yesterday that Bella first walked through those double doors for the very first time. Bella had been the new addition to Forks High this year. The talk of the town and she hated it. It wasn't so much the curious stares or the hushed whispers that followed her after she'd enter a room, it was more so that no one had come up to her because they _genuinely_ wanted to get to know her. They much preferred to have their discussions about her after she had already walked passed them, coming up with their own interpretations of her without substantial knowledge to back anything up. She was gossip. A juicy conversation starter. Though any conversations she may have had were infrequent between Bella and her new peers for the first few days. The few being when Mike Newton or Eric Yorkie or any other teenage male came up to her to shamelessly flirt with the new girl. Not even a 'how are you' or 'what kind of music do you like to listen to'. Just horrible pick up lines and shoddy punch lines that made Bella inwardly gag. But then Angela happened. The girl had been sick during Bella's first days and while she was walking from her English class to get something from her locker, it was then that she ran into Bella for the first time…literally.

_"Oh crap— are you okay," Angela asked the brunette who was sprawled awkwardly on the floor, clutching her head. Angela bent down and began collecting the few scattered papers and the girl's iPod from the floor. "Here ya go. I'm really sorry about that by the way." Angela gave the unfamiliar girl an apologetic look and offered her hand to the girl to help her up._

_The girl stood and gave Angela a small smile. "Thanks and it's no big. Stuff like that happens to me all the time."_

_Angela raised an eyebrow. "What? Falling on your ass or having the wind knocked out of you by a complete stranger?" She said smiling playfully._

_The girl shrugged with a grin and said simply like it was no big deal, "Both." _

_Angela couldn't help but giggle softly at the girl's nonchalance and instantly liked her for some reason._

_"Angela Webber." She said holding out her hand. _

_"Bella. Bella Swan." She smiled._

News of the girls' quick friendship spread through the school like wild fire. It seemed like everyone suddenly wanted a piece of the fresh meat on campus as questions were thrown at the brunette left and right and she could barely keep up with it all. She definitely wasn't in Phoenix anymore. Of course, she would politely answer what she could but mostly kept to herself, only giving simple nonspecific answers that only furthered her mystery and the students' desperate need to know every detail about her life. It was hell and Angela could tell. She had been the buffer when things were getting hairy and she never failed to swoop in and save the day when Bella needed it. Immediately ceasing everyone else's questions and calming Bella instantly. Bella was incredibly grateful to have her new friend there to help but it didn't help the rumors that had circulated later on about them both. Over the next week after fate had collided them both together, Bella had become very protective of Angela, and vice versa. Bella had never been a scary person and she wasn't physically intimidating either, but mess with Angela and it was a guarantee that you'd wish you hadn't. She cared for Angela and she'd do just about anything as long as it meant her friend's safety. She's already proven that. But did Angela feel the same? Would Angela abandon her and leave her in the dust? Bella mentally scoffed. Angela wouldn't do that to her. Bella was going through the same thing she was, they should be sticking together, not blaming the other. The brunette sighed. Her life was getting increasingly complicated as of late. Looking away from the wall, the she noticed the teacher giving her a worried glance but didn't question her and for that she was grateful. She strained her eyes to focus as she felt the world spinning on its axis. Okay whoa.

_Ugh. I feel like I'm going to upchuck my nonexistent lunch. Can this day _possibly_ get any worse?_

The sound of the bell ringing filled the once silent classroom, making her head feel like it was actually splitting in two. It was like life was having a cruel laugh at her expense. Students began shuffling in a few minutes later, carrying on meaningless conversations as they took their seats. Bella only buried her face deeper into her arms.

"What's wrong with you?" a nasally voice asked. Bella mentally cursed her horrible luck. Only Jessica would pick this time to show up and make everything even more splendid.

"Nothing. Headache." Bella answered shortly. Jessica seemed either unfazed by the girl's tone or hadn't noticed.

"So like, where's Angela? Don't you guys usually ditch us to go make out or something?" Jessica asked with an air of nonchalance as she inspected her nails. Bella knew better though. The girls weren't entirely certain but they both had _strong_ gut feelings that Jessica had a major crush on one of them, but seeing as the girl's poorly veiled snide comments were said when both brunettes were present, they could never determine which one the blonde had a thing for. They only knew that she was _really_ jealous of one of them, which didn't help Bella in the slightest as she found herself alone with the girl.

"Nope. No lip locking today. Angela's not feeling too well and I have an unforgiving headache, which only served to kill the mood." Bella said straight faced. She noticed Jessica's eye twitch and held back a smirk, choosing to turn back into her own arms as her way of ignoring the blonde. Jessica wouldn't have it though and started ranting about all the gossip she overheard when she was in the office. Bella quickly learned that listening to Jessica talk was worse than any grating noise or

"Blah blah new student…blah blah blah transfer…blah blah weird ass bitch –"

Bella of course tuned her out.

"Blah? Blah blah. _Hello_ BLAH!" A sharp dig at her side made her flinch and hiss at the swift motion that her head did not seem to appreciate at all.

"What?" Bella muffled grumpily into her arms, not lifting her head.

"Did you hear _anything_ I just said?" Jessica huffed.

_No._

"Uh new student or whatever." Bella offered offhandedly. She honestly didn't care but Jessica beamed anyway and resumed her previous rant about something or other. Bella mentally checked out again.

"Blah blah. Blah blah blah, blah blah –oh my god what is _she_ doing here?" Jessica whispered harshly. Bella couldn't tell if she was speaking to Bella directly or was merely talking out loud to hear her own voice again but was only half curious about whom Jessica was talking trash about. Bella tuned out of Jessica's biting comments of the mystery girl's clothes and listened as her teacher talked pleasantly with someone.

"Ms Swan? Would you please raise your hand for me?" Bella sighed but idly lifted an arm in the air. Why couldn't people just leave her alone? Didn't they know that the universal sign for 'I really don't care about what's happening right now' is to lay your head on the desk and ignore the world? There was a pause and then the sound of gentle clicks on the floor reached the brunettes ears and Bella only hoped that this girl wouldn't want to talk to her today. The girl was probably going to think she was a bitch but Bella couldn't really find it in herself to care. She heard whispering from the other students and figured that they were probably talking about Forks High's new arrival. Poor girl. She was going to get a lot of attention whether she was ready for it or not.

She barely registered the seat next to her being pulled out and gently pulled back in as she continued to lie uselessly on the desk. Her temples felt like they were caving in as the little angry men that lived in her head continued to hammer on the walls of her skull. Bella groaned softly when the sound of someone dropping their text book on the hard ground hit her ears. She was sure that no one heard her thankfully. Her ears were ringing loudly and the steadying pressure between her eyes only magnified.

"Are you alright?" A voice that sounded like blowing wind chimes asked softly. She felt cool air blow against her ear and shivered at the sensations that exploded in her spine and belly. Bella slowly moved her hand from under her arm, being careful not to jostle her arms too much and stuck her thumb in the air as her answer. There was silence. Bella assumed that the girl had just accepted her noncommittal answer and would leave her be. Minutes passed in silence as the teacher began going over the finer points of the lesson that they were going to start today. She had hoped that resting her head would help abate the pain somewhat but it seemed to only be getting worse.

"I don't mean to be rude or anything but are you sure you're feeling alright?" Bella resisted the urge to whimper at the other girls concern because she was honestly unsure. She felt cold and she was finding it hard to breathe. Something was wrong. Bella did her best to focus and calm herself but she was finding it difficult to single a string of thoughts together. She attempted to mentally assess her person and found something that managed to kick all the remaining air out of her lungs: her leg was numb; not just her bum knee but her _entire_ right leg. Something was _very_ wrong. What was happening to her? This can't just be stress, could it? That would have explained the headache but then why couldn't she feel her _fucking_ leg? Something's not right. Panic seemed to seep coldly into her bones and almost jumped out of her skin when she felt a small hand gently rest on her arm.

"Do you need to go to the Nurse?" The girl asked. Bella wasn't really sure how to respond without moving her head and nodding her answer. She paused.

"Yes," she whimpered weakly, feeling pathetic for having to admit that loud enough for the girl to hear but also to a perfect stranger no less. The girl gave her arm a reassuring squeeze before the hand was no longer there. Bella waited for more of a helpful response then that but none came until she felt someone tapping softly on her shoulder.

"I already informed the teacher. If it's alright with you, I'm going to escort you to the nurse's station." The girl whispered gently in her ear. Bella wondered fleetingly if she would be able to stand with out passing out but mentally shrugged it off. She needed to deal. It was a simple task. Get to the Nurse and maybe rest for a bit then go home. It was simple. Or it would have been had Bella not tried to stand and nearly fallen over as soon as she was on both feet. Strong arms caught her before she could topple over her chair, holding her close.

"How about you let me do most of the walking, okay?" Bella could only nod once. She couldn't find it in herself to refuse her help. She was practically dead on her feet and avoiding another accident today seemed like the wisest choice she had ever heard in her life. She couldn't even register that her feet were moving until everything stopped for the briefest moment and then seemed to rush backso quickly that it made her head feel like it was literally spinning on her shoulders and she nearly toppled to the floor.

"Whoa there. Okay, I guess we'll stop for a bit." The voice was surprisingly soothing and Bella smiled slowly in her delirium. "You're expression is confusing me by the way." She added with a confused frown. Bella didn't know where she was or who was talking to her but as long as the voice didn't stop none of it seemed to matter to her.

"I really think that we should get you to the nurse now." The girl said after a few minutes of silently leaning against the row of lockers. Bella's eyes had become unfocused as she stared at nothing. "Can you hear what I'm saying to you?" Bella didn't answer.

"Hellooooo?" The girl swept her hand like a metronome in front of the brunette's face. Nothing. "Please say something, Isabella." She pleaded gently.

Hearing her full name did the trick. "Wha – " Bella blinked slowly.

The girl smiled. "I think it would benefit you greatly if we began walking to the nurse again. Whataya say?" She said sweetly and Bella softly hummed in agreement only half catching what the apparently shorter girl had said. The brunette wasn't really sure what was happening and for that she knew she should have been panicking but she honestly felt too exhausted to worry. Bella was mostly being carried by the smaller girl as they both entered the same office building that Bella had seen so much of during the school year and just this morning. Bella could vaguely make out a brief conversation the girl had had on her cell phone before they had made it into the office. Something about meeting the girl up front …or something? Bella wasn't certain. God her head hated her today. Bella groaned miserably when they walked in; clutching the side of her head with one hand as her other arm was slung heavily over the girl's shoulders, the shorter girl's arm wrapped securely around her middle.

"Oh my goodness. What happened?" Came a familiar voice. Bella hadn't opened her eyes since they had left the classroom as she found everything suddenly so bright.

_Why must you melt my corneas with your evil light beams? Why?_

Bella groaned as she was slowly led to a back room with two cots pushed to the opposite ends of the room. Cold fingers flexed on her hip as she teetered a little once they stopped. She felt drunk and not the good kind of drunk either. Everything was spinning and lurching about that Bella couldn't grasp what was solid and constant, her equilibrium completely shot to hell. She felt sick.

"My, my, well aren't you a busy bee." Esme smiled warmly at the brunette as she took Bella in her arms and gently laid her in the cot. Bella was so out of it she didn't even question how the woman managed to lift her in the air like she was a sack of feathers.

"How are you feeling sweetheart?" Esme asked concernedly. Bella rolled her head to look at her.

"Like sh…uh crap. I feel like crap." Bella hastily answered. Esme smiled softly down at her and grabbed a pillow and blanket from the closet and draped the cloth on her body and lifted her head ever so gently like she was the most fragile thing in the world and then rested it back down softly on the newly fluffed pillow that she had placed there.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome dear. So I was told that you were suffering from a headache." Esme stated.

"Yeah, its weird. I rarely ever get migraines but this one seems…I don't know…different." Bella replied with droopy eyes.

"Different how?" The woman asked curiously, tilting her head to the side a bit.

"I don't know just…" Bella trailed off and blinked slowly. She knew she wouldn't last much longer.

"Its fine, sweetheart. Just rest for the time being and I'll check up on you in a little while." Before she could turn to leave a pale hand shot out and gripped her wrist. Esme looked at her.

"There's something else actually." She blinked again. "I can't feel my leg." She said, her voice wavered at the end.

Esme frowned deeply and opened her mouth to speak when the office doors burst open. Esme stood quickly, told Bella to stay where she was and that she would return shortly and glided out of the room. Not even a minute later a statuesque blonde woman came into the room, her amber eyes scanning every detail of the room instantly. Her eyes flickered to Bella's half lidded ones and then looked away. That's when Bella noticed what the woman had cradled gently in her arms. A mass of curly chocolate air and tan skin was all Bella could make out in her haze before a glitter of something from the girl's dangling arm caught her eye. Her index and middle fingers sparkled as the light caught it and Bella instantly knew who was in her arms, already leaping from the bed, not caring that she only had one mobile leg.

"Angela! Oh my god what happened?" Bella was frantic and swept her eyes everywhere for any obvious injuries. Bella reached her hand out to the girl but hesitated when she saw the blonde hold Angela even closer to her body, glaring menacingly at her.

"Don't touch her!" She growled. Bella's eyes widened as she gaped at her. The only thing she could do was stand there in shock as the defensive blonde scowled at her while she slowly backed out of the room.

"Rosalie what are you doing?" Esme inquired from behind the blonde, blocking her from leaving.

_That's what I'd like to know?_

"She was going to take her away—she can't have her!" She snarled lowly and Bella swore she saw her eyes flash.

_What the fuck is this chick on?_

"No one is going to take anyone away sweetie. Bella is Angela's friend. She wouldn't hurt her. Now…why don't you put her down on the cot so I can look her over to see how she's fairing?" Esme reassured gently.

The blonde hesitated for a moment, her eyes never leaving Bella's as she sauntered further into the room and placed the girl gently on the bed carefully. Bella didn't miss when the blonde tucked a piece of loose hair behind her best friend's ear either. She lifted an eyebrow.

_Um…okay._

"Whazzz…goin…on?" All eyes shot to the sleepy looking brunette as she rubbed her eye with a fist adorably.

"Ang…fuck you scared me. Are you okay? Does it hurt? What hurts?" Bella rushed out as she gripped the other girl's hands.

"At least let her breathe her own air, moron." Rosalie snapped. Bella glared at the blonde.

"Um can everyone just shut up right now? I feel like…I'm gonna hurl." Angela grimaced and wrapped an arm tightly around her mid section as Bella paled instantly and stumbled backwards. Esme steadied the girl and rubbed her back as she led her back to the cot.

"Let's get you back in bed dear. You shouldn't be on your feet right now."

"I don't feel so good." Bella mumbled miserably and clutched her stomach, mirroring Angela.

"This is why we need to get you in bed right away." Esme said, guiding the girl under the thin blanket.

Both girls groaned simultaneously, wrapping their arms around themselves.

"It…h-hurts." Bella choked out.

"Shit." Angela winced, her arms constricting around herself even tighter as hot bursts of pain rocketed up her spinal cord and shot straight down to her stomach like a hammer and bell carnival game.

"Esme what's happening to them?" The girl that had helped Bella asked.

"I wish I knew Alice." She whispered brokenly as she watched on helplessly.

"Well do someth—" A blood curdling scream echoed through the room as both girls writhed in pain. No one knew what to do as they stood there powerless to make it all stop. Tears held firmly in every honey colored eye.

It was ten agonizing minutes for all occupants in the room until everything suddenly stopped.

Only the sound of heavy breathing and slight wheezes filled the silence.

"Is-is it…over?" Bella panted.

Angela didn't answer her as she caught her breath.

"I t-think so…"Angela paused and without warning bent over the side of the cot and emptied her stomach on the dirty tile. Black essence coated her lips and dripped down her chin.

"What the fu—" Bella was cut off as she doubled over and wretched over the side as well, black slime jetting out of her mouth and bathed the floor until she passed out. Angela followed not even a second after.

…

Rosalie's eyes widened as she watched Angela fall limp on her side.

"Okay what the fuck just happened?" She asked quietly. Alice didn't answer as her gaze rested solely on the unconscious brunette in the other cot.

"I haven't a blasted clue." Alice grumbled as her eyes narrowed on the black mess on the floor.

But she was going to find out.

* * *

Reviews are love! X3


	4. Selfish Cattle

Alright everyone. I was blown away by the response I got from my last chapter. You guys are amazing! I'm loving the feedback and your guys' curiosity. I don't want to give away too much too soon but know that you probably won't find everything out until much later. Not too long a wait, I promise. Anyways, I wanna give a big thank you to Villemo79. You were a definite kick in the rear to get this up sooner than planned. So thanks.

Now...on with the creepy suspense...heh heh.

Enjoy!

Lil' Miss

* * *

_**It won't be long now Isabella…**_

_It's in her mind._

_**Soon…**_

_It's everywhere._

_**Not long at all…**_

_**Time is your only company…evading him would be rude.**_

_She hears rumbling, an animalistic roar that could vaguely be described as laughter. She hears heavy footfalls and the sounds of bones crunching, whispers on the wind. It's not a voice…its many._

_She feels cold, but she shivers for a completely different reason._

_**You thought you could fight this; that you could distance yourself from the inevitable…stupid girl. Both of you are. Distance is just a delusion you forced yourselves into believing. It's not real. The lies you fooled yourself into thinking real will only make this more difficult for you. Lies are only as powerful as the weaver, my child…but we both know you are weak Isabella Swan…don't we?**_

_**You lie to yourself…**_

_**To your father…**_

_**To dear sweet Angela…**_

_**But Weeee know different…Weeee know eeeeveryyythiiiing…**_

_Her veins freeze once more at the deep rumble that echoes hauntingly in her head. _

_**Oh, how wrong you were. How **_**stupid**_**. **_

_**Stubbornness will only end you even more quickly, my child. **_

_**There are no heroes in this tale. Heroes are burned and reduced to ash. Thrown in the pit and lost in the dirt. Gobbled and eaten for dinner. **_

_**Is that what you want Isabella? Do you want to be dined on like cattle? Cattle are slaughtered you know? Ripped to pieces and gnawed to the marrow. You do not want that for sweet Angela do you?**_

_She smells something foul, like something was left alone to rot in a dark wet place._

_**Is your heart so charred that you do not take into account her role in all of this? Her fate? Tsk tsk…I expected better from you. Maybe Angela should leave you. The poor lamb would be better off. **_

_**Run if you wish little girl.**_

_**Run till your bones break and your lungs bleed. **_

_**Run from it all.**_

_**Run with that niggling lie in your head, like a worm hollowing you away.**_

_**Let it poison your judgment, my dear.**_

_**Let it rot your already blackened heart. You selfish cattle.**_

_**Run from it all.**_

_**Run to your black heart's content.**_

_**But don't think yourself saved Isabella.**_

_**Don't believe that you will ever be at ease; that you will ever know one moment that is not filled with the sounds of your heavy, broken breathing as your blood pumps deliciously in your tired veins. **_

_**Run.**_

_**Run from what is real.**_

_**Run with your lies.**_

_**Run from Ussss…**_

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

"What the fuck!" A voice shrieks.

"What the hell…is that?" A female voice gasps.

"I didn't sign up for this shit." Another voice breathed in disbelief.

"Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep"

"Why are just standing around? We're losing her!"Another demanded.

"She's flat lining, Doctor."

"Don't you think I know that? Paddles, NOW!"

_**Run run run…**_

"Hold her still. What the FUCK do I pay you for? MOVE!"

"Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-CLEAR!...eeeeeeeeeeeee-"

_**Run run run run run…**_

"Come on, kid, work with me here."

_**As fast as you can…**_

_**It's what you want…**_

_**Isn't it?**_

_She hears a growl, a grating primal noise panting in her ear. She feels her senses exploding; setting her eyes on fire, she feels them roll back in her head. Her muscles seize. Her nose burns; she smells decay...blood…Death. _

_**It's what you need to **_**survive**_**.**_

_**You don't **_**know**_** survival little one.**_

_**You know **_**nothing**_**!**_

_**But you will learn.**_

_**Oh, will you learn.**_

_**How fruitful are your lies now, Isabella? **_

_**Do you need more convincing…because that can readily be arranged? **_

"CLEAR!"

_**Know this...and **_**never**_** forget…**_

_**We. **_

_**Are. **_

_**Real.**_

_**And We are very much a part of your future…your story is nowhere near complete…**_

"Beeeeeeeeeeeee—beep…bebeep…bebeep…bebeep…"

_**Soon Isabella. **_

_**Sooner than you realize.**_

* * *

Ooooh! Creepy. Well kind of. Anyways, review and tell me what you think. This popped out of nowhere so tell me if I've lost you yet. ;) I probably have, but let me know if I need to send out a search party or not.


	5. Floaty

**Hey guys! Here's a shiny new update for you. I know you guys want answers and explanations and such but uh...its not in this chapter. *avoids tomatoes* yeeeaah sorry bout that. But I promise answers will come. Maybe in the next chapter? Hmm, who knows, well I do but details schmetails. **

**In other news, I hate angst. Sooo much *heavy sigh* but its neccessary for now. For those of you who like when the characters are frolicking gleefully in the forest and laugh and smile stupidly at each other as they braid each other's hair and have awesome earth shattering sex...well god even I would rather read that than this. lol. Kidding, but yes thats not now, soon though. Soon...sooner than you realize. lol. Ooookay I'm ranting, babbling, whatever. Hope you like!**

**Lil' Miss**

* * *

_Is heaven supposed to be this dark, _was the first thing Angela said, or thought rather before she opened her eyes. She winced once she did but opened them anyways, preferring the searing pain in her eyes than the cold darkness. She blinked a few times, everything was incredibly blurry and she realized that she didn't have her glasses on.

_Damn it. Where are those bitches?_

She strained her neck a little but stopped when she heard rustling and felt her hand drop to the linen sheets. Eyebrows scrunching in confusion, Angela peered down but again couldn't _see_ anything –wait. Colors shifted and lines grew thinner when she focused. It wasn't crystal clear but it was definitely better than it had been.

_I wonder what that means_, she thought.

Shrugging, Angela focused her gaze on her lone hand again. It felt cold, not _dead_ cold, which was something, but still a lower temperature than normal. She noticed the IV was in the other hand and that one felt fine. She made a fist with her cold hand and subconsciously smiled at the tingling sensation that rocketed up her arm. She paused her clenching and dropped her smile.

Ok she was going crazy. Maybe that's why she's in here. She totally lost her shit and they decided to prod her brain for a reason as to why. Well she wasn't restrained. Good. It means they don't think she's violent. She groaned at her noisy brain and looked up as she heard rustling again. Her breath caught and her heart raced as she saw who was seated in the chair next to the hospital bed. Rosalie Hale.

_What was she doing here?_

Angela gaped like a fish as she watched her, blinking furiously thinking this had to be a dream.

_Well I'm still awake._

"Angela?"

Angela turned her head to the other chair next to her and smiled at the sight of Amelia curled into a ball, with her reading glasses askew on her face as a book lay open on her chest. The woman sat up and stretched, looking like a big lazy cat as she yawned. Slowly opening her eyes and seeing Angela smiling softly at her, she popped them open quickly and rushed to her sister's side.

"Oh my figgin' God, Angela!" She was immediately shooshed by her sister who covered her mouth and motioned with her neck to the sleeping blonde in the room. Amelia nodded and moved her hand away.

"How are you feeling?" She replied more softly.

"Okay, a little groggy and I feel all floaty and stuff which is reeeaaally nice." Angela grinned widely and Amelia chuckled.

"That's because they jacked you full of morphine or something heavy for your migraine and abdominal pain. So you're essentially on a big ol' drug trip right now." She noticed Angela's confused expression.

"Do you remember how you got here, Angie?" Her sister glanced away from her and then slowly shook her head.

"I don't know the specifics but a girl called me on your cell phone and basically ordered me to get my ass down to Forks Hospital because my sister was being rushed there by ambulance. She said she was on her way there and that she found you in a classroom and you were really out of it, she helped you to the nurse and then you passed out, woke up, complained of intense stomach pains and then threw up and then passed out again. I fucking chewed my boss's ear out for trying to get me to stay and then left work and drove like a crazy ass motherfucker to get here. You were already here when I Tokyo drifted the parking lot," The older girl's eyes flickered to the blonde. "and so was she." She added.

Angela got that tingly feeling in her stomach again, which seemed to make that floaty feeling all the more better. She smiled dopily at the pretty blonde. Amelia bit her lip to keep from laughing at her sister's jumping heart rate on the monitor.

"Do you remember any of what I told you?" Amelia said after a moment, trying to get back on track.

She remembers being terrified. Terrified of dying, terrified of what was behind her shoulder after she had already looked over twice. She remembers Bella falling, and helping her up, walking her to the nurse, meeting Esme…staring at Esme…feeling her lungs collapsing when she saw what was in Esme's hand, basically running the hell out of the nurse's office while Bella limped out alongside her. She remembers meeting up with her, in a classroom, Bella was acting weird, Angela hadn't blamed her for it but she still didn't like it. They started talking, then shouting, then tears. Defeated, grief stricken tears. Angela almost cried in front of her sister just thinking about it. She didn't though. Bella told her to run, they didn't have options, they had no one who would understand, and they were alone, alone but together. So they would run and hopefully give themselves time to figure something out. Bella left Angela to her thoughts. She was grateful for the space. Bella knew her so well, that sometimes it was creepy. She cried. She remembers feeling numb and angry, and sad, and then her headache came and never went. It stayed and pulsed angrily by her temples as she wept alone. She sobbed and sobbed and her headache got worse and she knew she should stop but she couldn't stop the tears. She felt weak as she cried her heart out in an empty classroom; sobs racking her body and splitting her head open even further. She remembers a door opening and an angel walking in, her footsteps small as she inched almost uncomfortably to her pathetic weeping form. She felt a tingle in her shoulder that for the briefest moment made all the pain vanish. Then the hand retreated and the pain all came back tenfold and she thought she fell out of the chair that she had been sitting on but she doesn't remember the impact, then everything went dark.

Then after that it's all blurry and nothing makes sense and then darkness again. She doesn't like the darkness so much. She hears a voice, or voices and it makes her never want to close her eyes again.

"_Because it fucking won't leave us alone, Angela!"_ Bella's voice echoes in her head. She was right. It never would.

She was scared. Really, _really_ scared.

She could admit it to herself. She would be stupid not to be and Angela Webber was anything but stupid. Her 4.o grade point average throughout her high school career was testament to that fact and Angela prided herself on her studies, her ability to absorb copious amounts of information quickly and execute them effectively, top of her class in every subject, even Math though she loathed it. She knew that her brains and grades were her only ticket out of here. It was the only thing she had going for her. She had dreams and aspirations to get out of this Podunk town and never look back. She _needed_ to get out of here; it was like a mantra that she would tell herself daily. Her plans for the future were the only thing Angela had to look forward to; it became her only distraction after her mother had died. She had never thought much about what life was like away from all this greenery and soggy weather before the accident. Leaving Forks was just something she never considered. But with Amelia skipping through the house with heart shaped eyes and humming cheesy love songs on repeat (the ones that never failed to get stuck in Angela's head for hours), it wouldn't be long before her sister finally left Forks too. Her sister would never leave her here by herself she knew, so this running thing, though painful, seemed like a good idea at the time. She wanted to make her mom proud of her, her sister. She didn't want to spend the rest of her life restless and unhappy, hating her life. It was easy to get yourself stuck in a town like Forks and forget your way back to civilization and she desperately needed a change of scenery. Too much had happened here, and she needed to find a place that wouldn't remember her, people who didn't know her. She needed a beginning.

But new beginnings were hard to come by now a days.

_No kidding._ Angela thought bitterly.

"You okay, baby girl?" Angela looked at her sister's worried gaze and nodded gently.

"Yeah I'm fine. Just thinking is all. I remember a little." She also notices that the story Rosalie told her sister (she's assuming the blonde did anyway) wasn't completely accurate but how was she to know if it was Rosalie or Amelia who told it wrong.

Looking at her sister, wanting to change the subject desperately and finding her solution missing around her sister's neck, Angela almost sighed in relief. The necklace her sister always wore from her douche of a boyfriend was gone. Which means one of two things: she found out something that would warrant a break up or he took it back and hawked it for beer money, which might also warrant a break up…_and a slap in the face_, Angela hoped.

_Bastard._

"What happened to Toby?" Angela asked in a disinterested tone, but raised an eyebrow curiously at her sister's bare neck. Her sister was slow to reply and scratched her neck subconsciously. Angela glared. She was still groggy, but she was going to be groggy _and_ cranky apparently.

"Ass cheated on me. Plus you hated him and we can't have that. I feel like the biggest dumbass because I'm finally starting to see why you did," Amelia looked at her. "Thought you'd be happy." Amelia said, as she raised an eyebrow of her own and tucked a loose brown curl behind her ear.

"I am happy. Dude was a huge loser, but you were just so…happy. I guess…I just didn't want that taken away from you." Angela said softly, shoulders slumping even further in her seat. It gave her hope; her sister's happiness, that if something did happen to her…

_When,_ she reminded…that maybe she would be alright. She would have _someone_ or something else to focus on and make her feel better or at least she would know what loving life and being happy with how things are felt like before her little sister died in some freak accident or not-so-freaky-but-subtle accident and left her with nothing. But now she's just by herself, distraction-free and that makes it worse for Angela to silently say goodbye. Angela feels like her death would just be even more destructive to her sister than it could have been.

"Who says I'm not happy? I get to start over, fresh. I'm like a gardener going out to tend to my flowers and veggies and smiling because I know that those pesky loser weeds are already pulled. The soils rich, the leaves are healthy and I can finally look at something beautiful." She turns her eyes to Angela who has soft tears in her eyes.

She chuckles. "That's what mom always used to say."

Her sister smiles sadly, nodding at the memory, "Yeah, just a little revised is all. Then again, her trippy analogies and metaphors for life never were consistent, always changing to fit a situation." Amelia hums softly. "That's one of the things I always loved about her. She had one for every moment in life," She smiles slowly as bittersweet pictures flashed in front of her eyes, "She even had one about making pancakes. God I miss her so much." She rushes out breathily and almost inaudibly, forgetting their possible heaviness. But Angela heard it.

Angela nods, wiping an errant tear from her cheek. "Me too."

Amelia looks up from her lap, remembering that she wasn't alone and in fact talking about their dead mother for the very first time since they lost her. She had unknowingly unloaded all their emotional baggage in the space between them and didn't know what to do with it. She was ripping open those tender wounds that had yet to be acknowledged were there and it all seemed like too much again. The daunting tension hung in the air mockingly, glaring down the girls and throwing up its hands frustratingly and saying 'Now what? Who wants to go first and talk about how much losing your mother felt like being sliced open and left bare and numb inside? Hmm, anyone? No? Well I guess I'll just sit right here until someone does or one of you breaks down entirely. Can you pass me that home improvement magazine?'

It wasn't healthy, she knew, but neither was the stabbing pain in her heart and the crushing feeling in her lungs whenever she thought about her mother, or randomly smelled her perfume when walking down the familiar hallway upstairs, or finding some old doodad that had belonged to her around the house, but she felt even worse when she saw the obvious emotional pain she had caused her baby sister. She scooted her chair closer to her sister and grabbed her hand that was laying on her stomach. She frowned at the cold temperature and carefully sandwiched Angela's between both of hers to warm it up. "Hey now, what's all this? Bad plumping or something?" Amelia jokes lightly in hopes of alleviating the choking tension in the room. It doesn't work so well. She sighs, cupping her sister's cheek and gently wiping a warm tear with the pad of her thumb. "I didn't mean to make you cry baby girl, it was a dumb analogy or whatever anyway. You're sister is shit with poetry." She smiles when that earns her a choked up giggle from Angela. At least it's something.

"You're fine and I think it was a simile by the way." Angela laughs more clearly at her sister's eye roll. "But it was good though. You should write it down like mom used to."

Amelia closes her eyes for a moment; her breaths coming out a little shaky and she swallows passed the tightness in her throat and pushes passed her discomfort with the topic. "I'm not sure I'd remember it anyway. You were always good at that stuff. You and mom both." Amelia paused. "It always made me kinda jealous. It was something you guys shared, the vast mental shelf space, the knowledge. You have a bigger memory than my fancy dancy computer." Amelia admits, blushing a little.

The youngest Webber smiled softly at her big sister, loving her even more now that she was finally opening up to her.

_Baby steps._

"I got brains but you have her beauty in spades, Mee Mee –plus _plus_ you talk just like her, you have this charming, witty, hippyish-Pocahontas 'I follow the flow of the river because I'm awesome' way of speaking. Sometimes I have no idea what the fuck comes out of your mouth or what it means but I wish that I could because you sound just like her."

"Pocahontas?" Amelia asks, lifting an eyebrow, knowing exactly who she was talking about.

Angela rolls her eyes. "No doofus. Mom."

Amelia's lips curl into a small grin and nods. "I know I was just doing that thing where I crack jokes at inappropriate times. It's like the worst defense mechanism ever but I'm working on it." She says, rubbing the back of her neck.

Angela smiles, "I know."

There's a lull in the conversation that drags on for a few minutes. Both sisters avoiding eye contact and fidgeting in their seats, Angela picks at a loose thread on the thin hospital blanket, pulling it and then twirling the strand around her index finger then unwinding it again, and Amelia biting her lip and raking her painted mahogany nails up and down her jean clad thighs.

_Well this is getting us know where. Again. _Amelia thought dryly.

"You're wrong ya know." She says through the silence, her words halting the younger brunette's distracted motions.

"About what?" Angela peels her eyes away from the woven pattern in the blanket that she forced herself to stare at and not the sleeping blonde on the other side of her, and looks up at her sister expectantly. Her sister doesn't answer for a moment, she just looks at her baby sister, piercing eyes looking into hers, adoration shining so brightly it blurs her vision for a bit.

"You look just like her, Angie. Every day I find something that makes me do a double take. You are such a beautiful girl and no that's not that kinda bullshit you think I'm only tellin' you because I'm related to you and I'm supposed to say that. You are in fact, one hot mama jama and yes I did, in fact say that, and I love you very much. I _never_ want you to tell yourself differently –on either counts." Angela bit her lip hard to keep from crying. Her sister just kept looking at her like that, with those same intense loving eyes that always reminded her of her mother.

"I love you too, Mee Mee. Even if you are a doofus." Amelia lets out a watery laugh and sniffs.

"I love you too, Gee Gee. Even if you are a total nerd." Amelia echoes. Angela chuckles and smiles, opening her tired arms out for her big sister to climb in. She does, holding her closely but carefully for a few minutes until they hear a knock at the door. Dr. Cullen walks in and smiles warmly at the two sisters, not saying anything about their embrace. Both girls blush at what they must look like and Amelia moves back to her chair.

"I'm sorry to interrupt. I just came back with your test results."

"And?" Amelia asks somewhat irritably at lack of information and not quite able to completely dissolve the sudden tension from her body, even if he is gorgeous. Angela gives her a look that says 'behave or I'll cut you when nobody is looking'. Amelia sees it and purses her lips in a tight line.

"It's strange really, I'm sorry for the lack of a better word but it seems that you—"

"Dr. Cullen?" The blonde doctor turns and looks at the man by the doorway, his hair sticking up in different directions like he was busy running his fingers through it and Angela narrowed her eyes as they zeroed in on the black splatter on his pale blue scrubs.

"Yes would you hold on for one moment please? I'm in the middle of a—" The disheveled man shook his head quickly.

"It's um…the _Swan_ girl," the man whispers the last part but Angela heard it perfectly, surprisingly enough. The Doctor raised a perfect blonde eyebrow questioningly and glanced down at his pager as it beeped on his hip. Angela was instantly worried.

"I need to take this but I will be back. I'm terribly sorry for having to leave you like this." He said apologetically. Angela smiled reassuringly and told him it was alright. He smiled softly and left quickly out the door, his white lab coat billowing behind him.

"Well, that was all kindsa rude and unhelpful." Her sister looked disapprovingly at the door the cute doctor just left through and looked at Angela. "At least he's hot." Amelia smirked.

"He's married too." Angela offered with an amused smile. Her sister shrugs.

"The hot blonde doctors usually are." Angela snorts a laugh. Her sister smirks knowingly, her eyes glancing at the other forgotten (not really) occupant in the room. "Speaking of hot blondes…what's _her_ story?" She waggles her eyebrows playfully and rests her elbows on the bed and fits her cheeks between her fists, squooshing them together comically. Angela stares at the sleeping beauty sitting perfectly still except for the almost too subtle move of her chest. She smiles instantly at the sight, loving the warm tingle in her stomach and race of her heart. Her sister looks from Angela to the blonde and back to the brunette again, a slow smile spreading across her face. She knows that look. She adjusts her elbows a little and looks at her sister expectantly.

"Aaaand go!" She whisper yells and giggles as her sister jumps a little, forgetting that she had an audience. Angela stares at her horrified as her sister grins mischievously.

"I'm gonna get it outta ya sooner or later, little sister. It's only a matter of time." Angela gulps audibly. Where had she heard that phrase before?

…_**time.**_

Then she remembered.

She was running out of it.

* * *

**Review! O.O**

**Your thoughts help immensely. A big thank you to those who alert, favorited and just plain read my story and liked it. *sends mental happy thoughts to you* XD**


	6. Subconscious Headache

**Okay so this chapter kicked my ass and then decided to have its filthy way with me because it totally had a mind of its own. O_O Again I say I don't like angst but it needs to start somewhat dark since ya know, being hunted and promised death is not what rainbows and sunshine are made of. Just sayin'...but I tried to add some happy moments in there. X) But I digress, I'm really wanting to get to the mushy loveness quickly since that's what I'm good at. **

**There are a lot of flashbacks in this chapter to create some kind of perspective for the characters. It hopefully won't be too confusing but I wouldn't be surprised if I confuse people even further. SORRY! **

**Trust me. We're almost to the 'tell all' chapter. Where everything should be laid bare so that you guys aren't left in the dust, but till then...GRAB YOUR SWIFFERS AND ENJOY THE RIDE KIDDIES!**

**And there should be some Rose/Ang interaction in here so hope ya like. Also, there is a song included in this chapter. I definitely recommend you listen as you read. It's a beautiful song and I thought it fit perfectly for this character.**

**_Didn't Want To Say Goodbye_ by Ari Hest**

* * *

**Bella's POV**

She always hated hospitals.

Loathed them in fact. They just never seemed to leave her with that warm fuzzy feeling whenever she was there, and she was there pretty frequently that the paramedics knew her on a first name basis and that fact just filled her with embarrassment. When the paramedics have seen your face so many times that they just roll their eyes when they see you, it starts to get real old real fast. Hospitals, generally, were cold, dull and everything was way too clean that it creeped Bella out like she was a victim in one of those serial killer movies. Plus, hospitals reminded her of pain. Like right now for example, she could do without feeling like her eyes were melting every time she cracked an eye lid open. It seriously felt like acid was being poured directly onto her cornea and she groaned miserably and felt like an idiot every time she did, thinking that the next time she opened her eyes that it would be different. Suffice to say that no, it didn't get better, and yes it still hurt like a mother heifer. She had resigned herself with lying there in her hospital bed like a useless fish, eyes shut tight and incredibly bored out of her mind. She wasn't sure there was any hope for her ever having a –_somewhat_ pleasant experience at the doctor's office. The dizziness had passed, thankfully, but now she was only painfully aware of the residual numbness in her leg. No, that hadn't gotten better either, and the doctors had thought that maybe it was a severe infection that had spread rapidly through her body. They said it would explain the numbness, nausea and the dizziness, and in some cases infections have been known to affect motor functions. But it was only a theory. A theory that was quickly dismissed since Angela had been wheeled in with almost the same exact symptoms. Bella just as quickly realized that the doctors had no idea what was wrong with either of them, and she wasn't surprised to learn this. She had a better idea of what was going on than they did but she didn't really _know_ what was happening to her and Angela. It's not like she could ask for a second opinion. Well, she could ask Angela but she hasn't seen her friend since she saw her vomit that black stuff all over the floor…

Bella shuddered at the thought. She was probably never going to get over that. She didn't like having that image in her head but it was ingrained on the back of her eyelids and that illustration only made her think of the voice in her head. God that voice. She hopes to never have to have that voice moseying around her brain ever again. It was like having a chill you just couldn't shake and there was no warming yourself up. Bella was at a loss of what to do now. She didn't know how _It_ had found out about the girls' plan and the fact that _It_ seemed to be everywhere and know everything about both girls' whereabouts made her feel even more uneasy. There was no privacy. Not even when the girls thought they were perfectly alone in an empty classroom with the door locked. Bella was right about some things at least. The animal claw was a warning. At first she wasn't sure about that theory but now there was no mistaking it. And she had made many of those as of late to know. It was only a few days ago that Bella had woken up early in the morning with a sinking feeling in her gut that demanded her eyes to open and investigate.

**[Three Days Ago…]**

_Something wasn't right, _she had thought.

Bella slowly opened her eyes. She blinked and glanced around her room for anything out of the ordinary but saw nothing. Scrunching her eyebrows together, she glanced at her clock on the bedside table. 3:25. It was waaay too early to get up. Groaning softly, Bella went to turn from her back onto her side, but stopped when she felt it. It was wet. Warm. It stuck to her thighs and calves and everywhere under her comforter. Bella shot open her eyes and adjusted her body to its previous position and stayed perfectly still. She calmed her panicked breathing slightly and craned her neck down to her feet. She couldn't see very much in the darkness but still noticed lumps that definitely weren't her feet. Slowly reaching her hand up from under the covers, Bella gripped the edge of her comforter and swallowed thickly. Steeling herself, Bella forcefully pushed aside the warm barrier and slapped her hand over her mouth to muffle her horrified scream.

Bella turned and switched on her bedside lamp.

Blood.

"Oh…god." She gasped. Wet crimson stained her legs and sheets, small puddles pooling around her legs and between the folds of her once lavender colored sheets. Bella mashed her lips together and forced herself not to spew her dinner as she took in the sight of animal carcassesgutted and dismembered on her lap, blood still flowing freely from its wounds onto her bed and body. Bella clamped her hands over her mouth tightly. She was going to be sick. So…much…blood. She felt dizzy and nauseas at the sight before her. She closed her eyes and carefully swung her legs over the side, red droplets trickling down her legs onto the wood floor. That was going to be a bitch to get cleaned up. Hopefully it wouldn't stain.

Bella groaned at her thoughts. They were not helping at all.

For the rest of the night she didn't sleep. She did the best she could to clean the blood from the floor, stuffed her sheets and anything else soaking in blood in a trash bag and set that aside. She used the plastic tongs from the kitchen to pick up the dead animals and stuffed those in a trash bag as well then dumped them out back into the trash can. She'd dispose of them later on when she wasn't worried about Charlie catching her and asking her what she had in the bag. She washed her sheets and pjs (they were probably a lost cause but at least they wouldn't be dripping with blood when she threw them away). She did as much as she could to pick everything up but stopped when she saw that it was almost time for her alarm to go off. She sighed tiredly and grabbed a clean towel from the back of her door and made her way into the bathroom and took an hour long shower. She just couldn't get cleaned. She washed her hair three times (even though there was no blood in it) and scrubbed her skin raw till it was almost as red as the smeared blood on her floor. She cried and hiccupped and shook her head at the memory of what she woke up to._ It wasn't real. It wasn't real. It couldn't be. It wasn't real. It wasn't real. It wasn't real. It's all in your head Bella. You're going insane. It didn't happen. I mean, who would do something like tha—no! It. Didn't. Happen. None of it happened. It was just a horrifically vivid nightmare. Very vivid. It wasn't real. It wasn't re—_

She heard a knock at the door. "Bells? You up?"

_No I'm in the shower because I fell asleep here. _She thought sarcastically.

"Y-yeah I'm up Charlie." She forced out.

"You're up mighty early, kid. It's not like you. Is everything alright?" He replied, his voice muffled by the door and the running water from the shower head.

"Yeah yeah. Everything's fine. Just felt like getting a running start on things. I'll be down to make you breakfast in a minute." She said, hoping he wouldn't actually take her up on her offer so she could clean up her room a little more before by some cruel chance he walked into her room and spotted something that she missed.

"Oh uh don't worry about it Bells. I'll just grab something on the way. You have a good day at school." He said. Bella returned the sentiment and waited till she heard the heavy thuds of his boots descending the stairs. Turning the knob off and grabbing her towel, Bella wrapped it around herself and proceeded to air dry, brush her teeth, and brush her hair like any other morning. Though she knew it wasn' the sides of the sink in a near vice grip, Bella tried her best to keep her emotions from overwhelming her. She and Angela had promised each other that they would never bring what happened in the woods up to each other. They would carry on with the rest of their lives like nothing happened, because according to the girls, nothing did. They were trying a new philosophy, 'out of mind, out of sight'. Whether that proved to be effective the girls weren't really sure. Until now.

Now…well now Bella didn't know what to do. After she had collected herself sufficiently, she looked up at the mirror and frowned at her reflection. Dark circles hung heavily under her eyes, a stark contrast to her pale skin, her eyes were red and puffy and her lids drooped low in exhaustion. She looked like shit. Shaking her head, Bella got out the make-up bag that her mother had bought her. She hardly ever used it, but now seemed as good a time as any. She fished around the black bag for a few moments until she found what she was looking for. She applied a little foundation on her face to cover up her sleepless night and after she was satisfied and done she put everything away. She shrugged at her still drying hair. It would do. She was putting off going to her room for as long as she could but knew she had to finish getting ready at some point. She exited the bathroom and took a much needed breath as she stood in front of her bedroom. She closed her eyes before she finally turned the knob and slowly eased it open.

She hated today.

Bella was hesitant to tell Angela about what had happened that morning but finally decided against the idea. She promised her she wouldn't mention it and she didn't want to go back on her word now, even if she was scared shitless. But regardless of Bella's efforts to brush it off for her friend's sake, Angela wasn't clueless to her friend's odd behavior. The taller brunette could tell that something was wrong but Bella wouldn't tell her anything beyond the usual 'I'm fine' and 'I'm just tired'. And at lunch, she stayed silent, ignoring any and all conversations at their usual table. Sure the conversations were never stimulating and were usually filled with rants about how much they hated a teacher or a pop quiz they totally bombed because they spent all of the previous night playing Black Ops till well over 3 o'clock in the morning, but Bella didn't even flinch at Lauren's snarky comments (which pissed the fuck out of Lauren, Angela had noticed with an odd sense of pride) and stared blankly at a spot on the table as she pushed her food around with her plastic seemed like she had completely shut down. Angela knew that Bella wasn't what you'd call much of a social butterfly and was a little shy around people but this was ridiculous because she was never that way around Angela before, not even when they had first met**.** So why was she avoiding eye contact and giving Angela mumbled responses all throughout the day? This was Angela for crying out loud! Her best friend! She wouldn't put herself in high regard if she didn't think she belonged there. They shared everything. Bella was her only true friend in this lonely town. Angela had a bad feeling about this and her stomach was in a hard ball all day. Something was off and whatever it was her gut was telling her that it all had gone to hell last night. Now all she had to do was get her friend to spit it out.

_Easier said than done. Too bad Bella has decided to be mute today, _Angela had thought.

* * *

**Ang's POV**

Angela's brow furrowed as the memory faded to the back of her mind, settling there like a warm buzz before it finally ceased its sensation. Well… that was odd. She's not even sure what made her think of that day of all things but she couldn't quite shake the intense feeling of déjà vu. The only weirdo thing about that whole memory was that it wasn't just hers, it was Bella's too. Or at least it sure did seem that way. Had that actually happened to Bella? Is that why she was acting so weird on Friday? It would explain a hell of a lot. But how could Angela know that? It wasn't possible. Was it?

_No_, Angela finally concluded, shaking her head. Stuff like that doesn't happen to real, _sane_ people, especially her…then again…who's to say that she's exempt from the strange and crazy these days? Gosh her life was so random.

"Are you listenin' to me?"

"What? Oh hm yeah. I was just uh…headache." Angela finished lamely pointing to her temple as if that would explain everything, and in her case, it probably would.

Amelia glanced at her sister worriedly and softly touched her forehead before tapping it lightly. "You need to stop giving my nerd grief, ya her me?"

"Are you talking to my forehead?" Angela asked, amused.

"No. I'm talking to the evil little men that are beatin' your beautiful brain to mush. I'm very disappointed in them." Amelia said sternly as she playfully glared at her forehead.

"Nut." Angela chuckled. Amelia smiled.

"Speakin' of nuts…" She trailed off. Angela eyed her sister carefully as Amelia stared at her oddly. She wasn't sure if she liked the knowing glint in her eyes.

"Since when have you stopped likin' 'em?" She asks innocently, her tone hinting at her accent at the end. If Angela had been drinking water it would have been sprayed all over Amelia.

"…W-what? What the fuck kinda question is that?" Angela asked, her brows scrunching together.

"A legitimate one. Now, stopped deflecting and answer me already."

"No." Angela huffed indignantly.

Amelia raised an eyebrow.

"Oh and why pray tell not?"

"Because…_because_." Was her elegant answer.

"Oh well since you put up such a convincing argument and a riveting conclusion." Amelia said in a flawless British accent.

Angela folded her arms like a stubborn child. "Because I don't wanna and it's a stupid question anyway and I don't like nuts because I'm allergic remember? Well uh not those kind of...um *cough* I mean, the nutty nuts like peaniii—uh well I uh…oh my god this isn't coming out right at all. What I meant was … why are you smiling at me like that?" Angela frowned.

"Because you are _so_ gay and I love you." Amelia smiled warmly, a hint of mirth in her eyes. Angela stared at her, shocked.

"H-how—how did you—"

"Know? Well remember that time when you were a wee little thing and were _obsessed_ with N'Sync?"

Angela scrunched her face in distaste.

"Yeah, well _pretended_ anyway. But you had this huge poster of Britney Spears in her epic catholic school girl outfit, Spice Girls and any other girl power group and then you had this liiittle (she makes a show of squeezing air between her index and thumb) poster of Justin Timberlake and well…it was easy to figure out from there."

Angela gaped at her in disbelief. "That's it? That's your big revelation? I liked a lot of 90's girl groups?"

Amelia shrugged. "That and you wrote about how gay you were in your diary."

"You read my _diary_?" She whisper yelled, mindful of the _still_ sleeping blonde in the room.

"Well yeah. What else are big sisters for than to whine about how annoying you are and invade your privacy?" She said casually.

Angela rolled her eyes and leaned back against her reclined bed with a huff. "And you call me annoying?"

"And damn you were thorough, too. You had pie charts of popular lesbian exposure in media through the years and lists upon lists of movies that I've never heard of and what I'm hoping are not, like, porno flicks."

"Oh my god will you please shut up?" Angela held her hand over her face, silently praying that the blonde wouldn't wake up and hear any of this. Amelia laughed and poked her sister's stomach. As much as she loved her big sister, she would not shut up and she wondered if she would get scolded if she said slapping her was the only way to cure her headache. It seemed plausible. Kinda.

Amelia side glanced the blonde and then looked at Angela. She kinda stumbled on her own idea of who the mysterious blonde was. The woman jerked her head, indicating to Rosalie. "Is she your girlfriend?"

"No."

"No?"

"No."

"Is Bella your girlfriend?"

"No."

"Really?"

"Really really."

"Aw. But you guys are like so annoying together and stuff." Amelia pouted.

"Wow. I can't believe you ever thought I was the annoying sister."

"Hey no one ever said I was perfect."

"I know I didn't." Angela mumbled.

Amelia spent almost the next half hour grilling Angela on the beautiful blonde who, Angela had to point out several times, was only sitting less than 10 feet away. Of course that didn't deter Amelia in the slightest much to her younger sister's dismay. If anything her brows only wiggled even more suggestively and her hand gestures were more exaggerated and wild. Angela began to wonder if it was her sister who was actually on the drug trip and not her. Thankfully she was saved by her appointed nurse who just so happened to have the best timing ever after Amelia had been about to make a rather lewd hand gesture. Angela mentally shouted a thank you to the woman in scrubs who came in to give the girl her scheduled dose. Amelia smiled politely at the nurse when she left and then turned to her sister, dropping it immediately and began the second part of her interrogation. It only took Angela a few minutes before the meds _finally_ knocked her out. Then instead of opening her eyes like a normal person once she woke up, what must have been hours later, she simply let her mind wonder as she kept them closed.

She envisioned fields of endless green and a sky painted the most beautiful pallet of pinks and purples swirling together amongst the clouds. She felt content and happy, like everything was as it should be and nothing could ruin this moment. Instead of the lush grass beneath her, she was lying on a soft blanket, of that she was sure, as she leant back on her elbows, legs out in front of her and crossed at her ankles, her head thrown back and basking in the residual warmth of the sun as it hung perfectly over the horizon. She was in heaven and she knew she was right when she saw her Angel. I mean, how can anyone tell her she was wrong? She was fucking sparkling for crying out loud! Her gorgeous golden hair was tinted pink around the edges from the sky above and her sparkling honey eyes almost rivaled her shimmering skin. It was surreal. Her angel smiled beautifully at her, straight, pearly white teeth gleaming in the disappearing sunlight. It was the most beautiful sight Angela had ever seen and it all felt so real.

_Too real_, Angela thought fleetingly

Her angel smiled softly down at her and inhaled deeply, her eyes closing, a look of pure bliss taking over her features. Angela's eyes widened as what unmistakably sounded like a pleasurable moan left her angel's lips.

_Oh god…_

Once her angel opened her eyes, Angela could swear that her heart was running a marathon inside her chest and had rudely decided to use up her oxygen as it did its cardio routines. The beautiful woman winked at her and slowly licked her ruby red lips.

_Guhhh…_

This was, hands down the best dream/ fantasy she had had so far of the blonde. Anything **racy** made Angela feel creepy and she always stopped it before it could get …_active_. Her angel looked wantonly at Angela and moved over her, both her arms placed on either side of her head, staring down at her with a mischievous glint in her eye that thrilled and worried her. She couldn't look away from her gaze even if she wanted to (which she didn't).

"I've been waiting for you Angela." The blonde husked. The brunette felt her breathing quicken at the feel of the blonde's cool hand cupping her cheek softly, her thumb sweeping gently from her cheekbone to the corner of her lip and back again. Angela felt the urge to kiss her finger.

"You have?" She choked out.

The blonde nodded.

"Longer than you can imagine." She whispered. Angela's eyes widened. How long exactly? A month? The beginning of the year? Since _last_ year? Angela furrowed her brow but didn't voice her question. This was starting to feel all too real. She didn't feel like she was in control of her daydream anymore. Was she sleeping? How could she be so aware if she was? She was starting to feel another headache coming on.

Rosalie smiled and trailed an icy finger down her cheek and slowly traced the gentle curve of her jaw line. Goosebumps erupted on her skin as Rosalie began to rake her long nails across her slender neck. Angela shivered. "Has anyone ever told you that you have the most beautiful neck?" The blonde breathed sexily in her ear, cool air hitting her neck and making her shiver again. Angela couldn't respond. Like she couldn't say anything. She felt like the very will to move had left her body entirely without her noticing. Rosalie's eyes flashed.

A gasp left her lips and her eyes nearly bugged out of her head as she felt something cold and wet glide up the shell of her ear. Rosalie moaned.

"Fuck you taste better than you smell and trust me, that's saying something." Rosalie purred as she nuzzled Angela's neck, licking a path up from her collarbone and to her pulse point. Angela moaned before she could stop herself. This was definitely not her normal fantasy. Rosalie brought her other hand that wasn't supporting the her weight up to cup her cheek as she began flicking her tongue across Angela's pulse point. _God that feels amazing_. The brunette bit her lip to keep from voicing just how good that felt.

Then it all changed. Angela opened her eyes. The sky became warped and ugly; painted a violent red that bled like a gushing wound, falling to the world in heavy torrents and bathing her once beautiful vision.

Angela panicked.

"She's coming." Said a silky voice, and yet haunting and tragic in its burdening echo. That alone put Angela immediately on red-_fucking_-alert.

"Who? I don't understand." Angela said.

Rosalie lifted her head, and regarded Angela with such an intense look of hunger the girl found herself swallowing thickly and instinctively tried to put some distance between them. Golden pools swirled to obsidian right before her eyes and all Angela could do was gape at her uncertainly.

"She's coming baby. God I can feel her now...just below the surface. She's…right…_there_." Rosalie purred like a jungle cat, her head thrown back and her golden mane bouncing wildly as she did. "She's so close." Rosalie moaned breathily, her hips thrusting forward in a sensual rhythm that made Angela bite her lip. She was beyond confused.

Angela shook her head. "I-I don't…"

The wild looking blonde opened her eyes, gazing down at her with a look that Angela couldn't place. "_Soon_." She husked.

"What?" The girl blinked.

"Its almost time baby." Rosalie said, leaning in closer to the girl. "But you have to open your eyes first."

Angela furrowed her brow. "My eyes?"

"You'll be blind if you don't."

"Blind?" Angela questioned. "What are you—" The blonde cut her off.

"Open your eyes baby. You'll see things clearly that way."

"You're not making any se-."

"It's only a matter of time…" She stated. Angela's veins freeze at the deep rumble that echoes hauntingly around her, echoing the blonde's words.

"For what? What's going to happen?"

"Change." She whispered. Suddenly, she was accelerating forward, her body rushing ahead of her before she had time to understand what was happening. Angela blinked slowly a few times and groaned, cradling her head in her hands. _Ow._

"Are you alright?" Angela snapped her eyes open and stared wide eyed at a very awake looking Rosalie. _A very tame and non scary looking Rosalie. Thank. God._

Angela gaped like a fish for a few seconds as she stared at the concerned blonde. "Angela?"

"Huh?"

"Maybe I should get the doctor." Rosalie made to get up.

"No! Oh my god _ow_!"

Rosalie rushed to her side. "What? What is it?"

"Its-its just my head." Angela squeezed her eyes shut as she messaged the side of her temple with the heel of her hand, cursing her stupidity for yelling at the blonde in the first place. _Loud noises are a no no, Angela. Duh._

The brunette willed her eyes to open but self preservation won out. She honestly wanted to stay still for a while. No funny business.

"Are sure you don't want me to get your doctor."

""Yes. Please just—" She sighed. "I'm fine okay. See?" Angela removed her hand slowly. "all better."

"You're a terrible liar."

"Only when I'm drugged." She mumbled under her breath.

"What was that?" Rosalie asked, amused.

"Nothing."

Rosalie nodded but didn't say anything.

It grew quiet and Angela was grateful for the time to think. Thinking was probably not the healthiest thing to do given her current condition but her mind was abuzz with cluttered images. She wasn't sure what needed to be weeded first but grabbed for what was most prominent. Bella. It seemed to always lead back to her.

**[Three Days Ago…]**

She had tried to talk to Bella more about what was bothering her after lunch that day, but Bella seemed to retreat even further into herself at the thought of explaining her need to give everyone the cold shoulder. So Angela scrapped that plan and decided to switch tactics. The girl wasn't sure what else she could do for her friend but wouldn't give up until she saw a genuine smile blossom on her friend's pretty face. She'd know it when she saw it. Angela had skillfully persuaded (guilt tripped) Bella into coming over to her house after school to study for a test they were due to take on Thursday. Bella hesitated but after Angela whipped out her infamous puppy pout and pathetic Bambi eyes Bella finally but begrudgingly agreed and followed her friend in her truck. When they got there, Angela grabbed the usual rations, Doritos and a package of Oreos and two cans of soda. With the snacks piled in her arms, Angela climbed the stairs and gently kicked the door open with her foot and strode into her room, dumping the 'supplies' onto her bedspread. By then Bella was on Angela's computer and scrolling through her music.

"How is it that you have more music than me? Your iTunes says you barely listen to this stuff."

Angela shrugged. "I've been writing more than I've been listening lately." Angela answered simply. Bella turned her head and looked at her friend.

"Have you finished anything yet?" Bella asked. Angela chewed on her bottom lip for a moment as she thought about if she should answer that. She had. She had written _a lot_ actually. Most of, in Angela's opinion, was complete and utter crap but she had liked a few at least. She nodded.

"Yeah." Angela sat herself cross-legged on her bed. "You wanna hear one?" she asked softly. She was still self-conscious about performing in front of people, even Bella. She had only ever played for her mother. Bella smiled softly and nodded emphatically.

"Please." Bella swiveled the desk chair to face Angela.

Angela stood and grabbed Maya's (her guitar) case from her resting place against her stand and plopped back on her bed.

"It's crap. I'm warning you now." Angela muffled with her hot pink guitar pick between her teeth as she maneuvered the guitar out of its case and gently placed the case on the floor then situated her wooden baby on her lap.

"You say that every time, yet, every time I say _you're_ full of crap. So shut it and play already."

Angela smiled and adjusted her fingers in their desired position.

"Alright but don't say I didn't warn you."

"Consider me thoroughly warned, now hush. Onward maestro!" Bella clapped as if signaling silence for rehearsal in a Broadway production. Angela giggled and nodded then once again drummed her fingers subconsciously against the fret board like she did every time and began swiping the strings with a practiced ease. A soft but steady melody flowed gently from the instrument and Bella forced herself not to close her eyes against the lulling sound. Bella loved hearing her friend play. She was a gifted musician and very few people knew this and even fewer had actually heard her play. The fact that she was one of those few made her feel special; honored. It felt like she was being included in this big beautiful secret. Bella's ears perked up at the sound of Angela's strong voice as she sang the beginning of her song.

"In a room draped in blue  
I am thinking of you  
I am tired, I can't sleep  
And for you I will weep

In a flash, you are gone  
Yet around me life is calm  
I cannot understand  
Is this part of the plan?

Bella watched as her friend's face twisted with emotion as she sang, her eyes closed and her mouth scrunched up like what she was trying to get out was difficult for her. Bella's heart clenched at the sight. It was heartbreaking.

I get cards with bouquets  
But they can't take your place  
I have dreams about us  
But I always wake up

I can ask all I please  
I can beg down on my knees  
For a reason, for a sign  
But these answers I won't find

And I will weep  
Yeah I will…weep  
Oh can you hear me?  
Can't you tell me why?  
"Why?" She softly whispered to herself. With her eyes still closed, Angela shook her head and picked up the melody again, continuing like nothing had happened and she hadn't just faltered at all.

"I'll go on without you  
And what's left for me to do  
But to stay where I am  
In my world of pretend

And I won't know until I die  
If my faith was but a lie  
'Til then you'll hear it in my cry  
I didn't want to say goodbye to you"

Once Angela finished the last chord, she was breathing hard and hadn't made a move to put anything away and simply sat still on her bed. Bella frowned as she noticed a single tear fall from Angela's chin. Bella had never been good with comforting people, especially crying people but Angela had proven to be different in every way. Bella knew or rather _felt_ what she needed to do and hadn't disappointed her friend yet. For that, she was grateful. Bella jumped into action and stood from her chair before she knew what she was doing, walking over to the weeping brunette. Bella took Angela's hand between both of hers and held it as she sat down next to her. This didn't feel like a hugging moment so she did the next best thing and caressed the back of the girl's hand with her thumb as a comforting gesture. Bella felt the hand squeeze hers in a vice grip, clinging onto her for dear life as Angela's shoulders shook with silent anguish. Bella held on, mashing her lips together to keep the words she desperately wanted to say inside herself; that everything would be okay and that things would get better. She didn't say that though because she didn't know that. And it didn't sound like the most comforting thing to say no matter how good the intention behind her words. Angela sighed after a moment and wiped her face with her other hand.

"Sorry about that."

"Don't. Please don't apologize for crying, Ang. If it helps then never feel like you should feel bad for letting it out." Bella said. Angela smiled weakly and looked at the other girl.

"Going soft on me huh?" Bella smiled at Angela's attempt at lightening the mood.

"Maybe…or maybe I'm just more sensitive and insightful and therefore more awesome than you." Angela rolled her eyes and poked her friend in the stomach, amused at the squeak that came from her.

"Yup. Soft like pudding." Angela laughed as she laid her guitar gently on the floor.

Bella pouted.

"I'll show you soft." Bella said as she lunged at Angela, tickling her mercilessly. Bella's fingers began their assault on the girl's sides, producing the most satisfying giggles and breathy chuckles. She smiled evilly as she attacked her prey.

"UN—UNKLE! God-freaking daa—ha ha ha—oh god I _ha_-hate you—"

"No you don't." Bella sing-songed.

"Yes I—snort—do. Gahh! Stop! Please—I give. I give." Bella stopped but didn't move her hands.

"Say I'm not soft." She told her.

"You're not soft." She mimicked, crossing her eyes to further make fun of her.

Bella cupped her ear. "I can't heeeaaar yoooouuu."

"You have abs of fucking steel alright?" She said exasperatedly.

Bella smirked, satisfied.

"Sounds about right."

..X..

So Angela hadn't been successful in her battle strategy…okay so she didn't even have one to start with. Instead they ended up having another tickle war, breaking a lamp in the process, and basically scoffed at studying all together and decided to eat all of their junk food as they watched _Madea goes to Jail_.

She tried not to think too heavily on it, though, it seemed that not thinking about what Bella had kept from her and avoiding the whole fucked up situation they were in, running from it, had left them worse off. Angela couldn't shake the feeling that maybe that's why they were in the hospital in the first place. Like maybe something was hell bent on making sure they failed in every way, made sure they suffered. Why anyone would want that for two innocent teenage girls, she wasn't too sure. The brunette felt that niggling feeling in the back of her mind, like she was meant to remember something. Something really important. Dammit! What was it?

"You're going to give yourself another headache if you keep thinking so hard."

Angela blinked. "What?"

Rosalie smiled softly at the brunette. "You looked like you were in deep thought. I was afraid you were going to get lost there." Rosalie said with a slight smile.

"Har har."

Rosalie smiled. "Yes. I thought it was a little funny."

"Clearly." Rosalie's smile grew at the sound of Angela's small chuckle. Then a moment later silence followed.

_This was weird_, Angela thought.

"Have you seen –"

"Your sister? Yes, she went to get something to eat from home. Something about eating in the cafeteria would just put her in a hospital bed and then she'd never get out of here."

Angela rolled her eyes at that. That sounded like her sister.

"Such a w_ise ass_." She muttered to herself.

"So how are you feeling?" Rosalie asked. Angela looked up and furrowed her brow, surprised by the question.

"Um okay I guess. I think the meds are wearing off because I don't feel so awesome and uh," She coughed. "Floaty."

"Floaty?" Rosalie quirked an eyebrow. Angela blushed as she scratched her nails over the texture of the blanket.

"Yeah. I don't know how else to explain it."

"I'm not sure it would help much if you did anyway."

Angela nodded slowly, not really sure what was being said but simply wanting to have something to do.

Silence.

"Soooo…" She drawled out, mostly just trying to fill the loud silence.

Rosalie watched Angela silently. Angela felt her face heat up and stared at her lap as she began fidgeting with her fingers. It was obvious to Angela that the blonde wouldn't start a conversation with her. Which sucked because she had so many questions but didn't know how to go about voicing them, most she knew even the blonde couldn't sighed. Why did this have to be so hard?Wetting her suddenly dry lips, the brunette turned to the blonde and watched as her Rosalie's eyes didn't find hers but were focused somewhere else. Her brow furrowed when she saw the blonde glance at her mouth before quickly snapping her eyes back up at her brown ones.

_Huh. Note to self: ask Amelia to bring chap stick._

Taking an encouraging breath, she began, "Don't take this the wrong way or anything," _and that's _so_ not how you start a conversation!_ She paused."But what are you still doing here?" She asked slowly, hesitant to voice the question. She didn't want to sound rude. She saw Rosalie frown slightly and mentally kicked herself. _Great. Now you hurt her feelings._

"Not that I'm not grateful for you being there when…_whatever_ it is that happened …uh happened." She rushed out. "It's just we don't talk outside of school…or…at all actually and my sister said you were here when _she_ got here and you called her on my cell phone— but how did you even know who she was and that she was my sister. You've never spoken to me…okay there was that one time that your pen ran out of ink and you asked me if you could borrow one of mine and I said sure no problem and you said thanks and smiled beautifully at me and I gave it to you and you took it and…and uh…" Angela furrowed her brows. "What was I talking about?"

Rosalie smiled sweetly at the brunette and said, "Why I'm here." She offered.

"Right. Yeah so uh why are you here exactly?" Rosalie silently stared at the ground for a moment as she bit her lip. Angela had always thought of the blonde as looking like a refined angel. Beautiful and composed at all times, though now she looked anything but as she uncharacteristically rung her fingers with her hand.

"I wanted to make sure that you were alright. You gave me such a fright when you collapsed and I guess I wanted to make sure that you were well with my _own_ eyes and ears instead of asking my father if you were okay." She nodded as if agreeing with what she just said and watched as Angela digested her statement.

"Uh well that's very kind of you. And I'm really sorry for falling unconscious and puking in your vicinity and all." Angela winces in embarrassment. "That must have been something to see.

Rosalie chuckled. "Nothing I haven't seen before. Trust me. I've seen far more gruesome things in my time." She said, her tone taking on a heavier note on the last part.

Angela furrowed her brows at that. "Your time? Gosh you make yourself sound old." She chuckled.

Rosalie laughed. "You could say that."

"You're one of those old souls, huh? Like 18 going on 40? Is that how you'd phrase it?" Angela tapped her chin with her finger, scrunching her brows adorably in thought.

"Yes. That's one way of putting it, I suppose."

_You're being mighty cryptic blondy._

"How would you put it then?" She asked with a slight smile and a tilt of her head.

"Lots of ways." The blonde said with a slow curl of her lips.

_Were…were they flirting?_

"Care to share?" Angela lifted an eyebrow.

"Hmm. Maybe."

"Is that like a 'maybe when pigs fly' kinda statement or a 'maybe tomorrow over coffee' kinda deal?"

"Are you asking me out for coffee?" Rosalie asked surprised.

Angela sputtered. "Well I…I mean I didn't…uh yes?" Rosalie lifted an eyebrow. "Only as friends of course." She rushed out then brunette brows furrowed. "Acquaintances?"

"My you're cute when you're nervous." Rosalie commented casually as she smiled softly.

_Yup. They were flirting._

"Umm." Angela blushed causing Rosalie to giggle.

"I spoke to my father earlier while you were asleep." The blonde started.

Angela sat up in bed a little, her attention peeked. "And what did he say?" Did he know what was wrong with them? Did something happen to Bella? Oh god Bella!

"It's nothing bad, I assure you. I merely asked how long you would be in the hospital for and he said you could leave tomorrow if you wanted."

Angela released a heavy breath at that. "That was all he said?"

Rosalie was silent for moment before looking away and nodding. "He wasn't allowed to tell me anything else."

"Would you like me to call him down here? He usually has his regular cell phone on him?" Rosalie began reaching into the pocket of her stylish red petticoat before Angela waved her off.

"It's fine. Really. I kinda want to believe for at least a little bit longer that there's nothing wrong with me before someone hits me over the head with a dose of reality."

"I'm sure that its nothing too extreme Angela." Rosalie assured.

"But do you know that?" Angela asked her tone emotionlessly.

"No but I know my father and if anyone can figure out what's happening to you, it's him."

"No offense to your faith in your father or anything but I think that this one is a little over his head." Angela said somberly.

"Why's that?" Rosalie asked curiously, frowning deeply.

"For lots of reasons." She replied.

* * *

**I **_**hate **_**that chapter. Seriously. I despise it. But nothing better would come out. So c****rappy ending is crappy. But whatever. -_-**

**Anyways. Drop me a review and your witty two cents! I love hearing what you guys think. C=**


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